266 



EUROPE. 



disturbed the general peace. The official pa- 

 pers of Berlin, Vienna, and St. Petersburg, 

 represented the three Emperors as being in 

 full accord on all questions of an international 

 character, and as fully determined to maintain 

 the continuance of peace in Europe. The in- 

 terviews of the Emperor of Austria with the 

 King of Italy and the Emperor of Russia, and 

 of the latter with the Emperor of Germany, 

 strengthened the belief in a peaceful future. 



The most important war-cloud on the politi- 

 cal horizon of Europe was the insurrection of 

 the Christians in the Turkish province of Bos- 

 nia. It seemed to reopen the intricate East- 

 ern question, and to be another step toward 

 the overthrow of Turkish rule in Europe. 

 Embarrassed by financial difficulties, the Gov- 

 ernment in Constantinople was at first disposed 

 to regard the insurrection as a local disturb- 

 ance without any importance, and not needing 

 any serious military effort for its suppression. 

 Thus the insurgents gained time to organize and 

 to develop a strength which not only success- 

 fully resisted the Turkish army, but compelled 

 the great powers to step in and to prevent by 

 diplomatic interference more general and se- 

 rious complications. The sympathy of the 

 Governments and the entire population of Ser- 

 via and Montenegro was so outspoken that it 

 needed the threats of Austria, Eussia, and 

 Germany, to prevent them from openly sup- 

 porting the cause of the insurgents and declar- 

 ing war against Turkey. As the Turks were 

 unable to put down the rebellion, unsupported 

 as it was by any foreign power, it cannot be 

 doubted what would have been the issue if 

 Servia and Montenegro had been permitted to 

 carry out their intentions. The three Emperors 

 do not believe the time to have yet come when 

 the dissolution of the Turkish Empire can be 

 allowed to take place, and a proposition ema- 

 nating from Austria met their approval, accord- 

 ing to which some kind of provincial self-gov- 

 ernment, under the direction of a Christian 

 governor, was to be conceded to Bosnia. The 

 Christian insurgents are far from being satis- 

 fied with this progress, and indulge the hope 

 that in the spring of 1876 disturbances will 

 break out in the other provinces of European 

 Turkey, and that the Governments of Servia 

 and Montenegro will be compelled by public 

 opinion to join them. Their hope is greatly 

 encouraged by the financial troubles of the 

 Turkish Government, which alone are great 

 enough to drag a country to the brink of ruin. 

 (See TuBKEY.) 



While the three Imperial Governments of 

 Europe appeared to be desirous to postpone 

 the overthrow of Turkish rule in Europe, the 

 English Government surprised the world by 

 purchasing from the Khedive of Egypt his 

 shares of the Suez Canal Company. This 

 movement, which was entirely unexpected, was 

 generally construed as a determination to se- 

 cure a controlling influence upon Egypt, and to 

 retain a firm hold of the shortest route to In- 



dia. In order to strengthen the influence of 

 England in its Indian possessions, the Prince 

 of Wales was prevailed upon to undertake a 

 voyage to India. The English Government 

 claimed to be entirely satisfied with the recep- 

 tion which the native population gave to the 

 first representative of the royal house of Eng- 

 land who has crossed the ocean to visit them. 

 The complications which England had with 

 the Governments of China and Burmah were 

 likewise solved to the satisfaction of the Eng- 

 lish Government. These successes in foreign 

 questions to some extent calmed the dissatis- 

 faction with the home policy of the ministry, 

 which appears to be on the increase, and which 

 might have proved a serious danger, if the divi- 

 sion of the opposition into Liberals and Radi- 

 cals had not for the present made the over- 

 throw of the Tory cabinet impossible. (See 

 EGYPT, BUKMAH, CHINA, and GEEAT BEITAIN.) 



In France the Monarchists have found it im- 

 possible, in consequence of their division into 

 three irreconcilable parties, to restore any 

 form of monarchy ; and the outspoken Repub- 

 licans, strengthened by a moderate wing of 

 former liberal Monarchists, have succeeded in 

 finally securing the adoption of a definite re- 

 publican constitution. Though this constitu- 

 tion contains a clause regulating a revision and 

 leaving the way open for a restoration of mon- 

 archy whenever the Senate and the Legislative 

 Assembly agree upon it, the republican form 

 of government has undoubtedly gained many 

 friends, and was at the close of 1875 consider- 

 ably stronger than at any previous time since 

 the overthrow of the Napoleonic rule. An 

 important event in the current history of 

 France is the remarkable increase of the in- 

 fluence of the Catholic Church upon society, 

 which is particularly noticeable in the depart- 

 ment of instruction. (See FEANCE.) 



In Germany, on the other hand, the Catholic 

 Church has been unable to obtain the least 

 concessions from the Imperial Government, and 

 finds it difficult to maintain her ground. Sev- 

 eral bishops of Prussia were again, as in 1874, 

 sentenced to imprisonment for refusing to com- 

 ply with the laws of the state, and two of them 

 left the country. A number of priests have 

 submitted to the Prussian church laws, not- 

 withstanding their condemnation by the Pope 

 and the bishops. The Catholic party in the 

 German Reichstag has, however, not lost any 

 of its strength, and in Bavaria it even suc- 

 ceeded, at the general election, in securing a 

 majority in the new Second Chamber. The, 

 King, however, emphatically refused to dis- 

 miss his Liberal ministry, and the Liberals find 

 a consolation for their defeat in the fact that 

 the Ultramontane majority in the Chamber is 

 only two, and that the representatives of all 

 the large towns are Liberals. (See GEEMANY.) 



The Government of Austria is still conducted 

 by a ministry taken from the ranks of the Lib- 

 eral party, but it is anxiously intent upon avoid- 

 ing any open conflict with the Church. The 



